Webinar: UK Cabinet agrees Brexit Withdrawal Agreement text – what was agreed and what next?

In today's webinar Paul Butcher, Brexit Director at Herbert Smith Freehills, was joined by Eric White, Consultant (International Trade) and Katherine Dillon, Of Counsel (Financial Services), both from Herbert Smith Freehills, and Oliver Lewis, Director at Hanbury Strategy, to comment on the key aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the proposed UK-wide backstop, the political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship and the political obstacles to reaching a deal.

During the webinar, we sought the opinion of our listeners on two questions:

1. Will the EU/UK agree and ratify a withdrawal agreement by the 29 March 2019 deadline?
2. Who will be Prime Minister at the point of the 29 March 2019 deadline?

As to the results:

• 56% of our listeners believe that the negotiating parties will not ratify a withdrawal agreement by 29 March 2019 and there will be an extension of the negotiations, which is broadly the same view as for those polled in October (58%). 32.8% believe that there will be a deal (compared to 27.2% in October) and 11.2% believe that the UK will exit the EU with "no deal" in place (compared to 14.4% in October).
• Over 70% believe Theresa May will be the Prime Minister on exit day, with the remaining 25.9% envisaging another Tory leader and only 2.6% expecting Jeremy Corbyn to head the country.

If anyone has questions arising out of the webinar, they can submit them via the webinar app and we will respond via email. To access the webinar recording, please contact Jane Webber.